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She lifted her hands to her cheeks, dashing away the treacherous tears. ‘Because I’m mad.’
‘You should be.’
She crossed her arms over her chest. ‘I’m sorry things between us are ending like this.’
‘It doesn’t have to end this way, though.’
She bit down on her lip, not daring to believe he was offering more. Not daring to believe he was going to suggest she stay.
‘Don’t think about what Luca said. Don’t think about any of that. Remember how it felt in my arms. Remember how it felt to dance together, to walk together, to ride my bike together. This was more than either of us bargained for—that’s the truth you should hold on to.’
‘Why?’
He stared at her blankly.
‘What good will it do to hold on to that truth? At the end of the day, it changes nothing. This was just sex. You don’t want more from me than that.’
‘Are you saying you want more from me?’
She felt the foolishness of her words—but too late. It had been too easy for him to flip them back around on her. ‘I—That’s not an option.’
He watched her, waiting for her to continue. But what could she say? She needed to get married, and he’d never agree to that, unless of course she was pregnant, but what kind of marriage would that be? She shook her head slowly, clearing the thought—the hope and dream.
‘I need to know I haven’t hurt you.’
The words were dredged from the bottom of his soul and, finally, she understood. He lived in fear of becoming his father, of fooling a naïve, innocent woman into a relationship, of offering her more than he ever intended to give. He was terrified that history would repeat itself. It was why he’d worried so much about her potentially falling pregnant, why he’d been so adamant about marriage. And as hurt and angry as she was, she couldn’t inflict those same wounds on him. He didn’t deserve it. Or perhaps he did, but she loved him too much to be the instrument of pain to him.
‘I’m fine, Alejandro. I got what I came here for, and now it’s time for me to leave—just as we agreed. You’ve done an excellent job, everything I asked for, in fact. Please don’t worry about me. I can’t bear it.’
He frowned, scanning her face. ‘And that’s it?’
‘What more do you want?’
She waited, so foolish to still hold hope in her heart, but wasn’t that the power of love? To endlessly hope? It was the first time she’d understood her mother, and why she’d stayed with their father, even when he’d made her life a misery. She’d never lost hope that he would change, that one day he would give her what she needed, that he would love her back.
Sienna couldn’t be like her. She wouldn’t be. She gave up waiting.
